Sanofi and GSK to support COVAX with 200 million doses of adjuvanted, recombinant protein-based COVID-19 vaccine
Sanofi and GSK have signed a Statement of Intent with Gavi, the legal administrator of the COVAX Facility, a global risk-sharing mechanism for pooled procurement and equitable distribution of eventual COVID-19 vaccines.
Sanofi and GSK intend to make available 200 million doses of their adjuvanted recombinant protein-based COVID-19 vaccine, if approved by regulatory authorities and subject to contract, to the COVAX Facility.
The Russian Direct Investment Fund, (RDIF, Russia's sovereign wealth fund), has submitted applications to the World Health Organization (WHO) for accelerated registration (Emergency Use Listing, EUL) and prequalification of the world's first registered vaccine against the coronavirus Sputnik V, which is based on a well-studied platform of human adenoviral vectors. The Russian Federation has become one of the first countries to apply to WHO for prequalification of its vaccine against the novel coronavirus infection.
CureVac N.V. (Nasdaq: CVAC), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines based on messenger ribonucleic acid ("mRNA"), today announced data from preclinical studies of its investigational SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate, CVnCoV, in mice and hamsters. The vaccine candidate elicited balanced humoral and cellular immune responses, featuring high antibody titers and very good T cell activation.
Gilead Sciences (Nasdaq: GILD) and the European Commission signed a joint procurement agreement (JPA) that will enable rapid and equitable access to Veklury® (remdesivir), the first antiviral drug proven to be effective for the treatment of COVID-19 in the European Union (EU). The JPA enables participating countries in the EU and the European Economic Area (EEA) and the UK to purchase Veklury for both real-time demand and stockpiling needs, coordinated by the European Commission.
AstraZeneca's long-acting antibody (LAAB) combination, AZD7442, will advance into two Phase III clinical trials in more than 6,000 participants at sites in and outside the US that are due to begin in the next weeks. The LAABs have been engineered with AstraZeneca's proprietary half-life extension technology to increase the durability of the therapy for six to 12 months following a single administration.